Hospital and Community Intervention Navigator Service

In order to further improve the offer of support for young victims of violent crime, the Greater Manchester Violence Reduction Unit has developed a model of hospital youth intervention – the Navigator Service. An 18-month pilot (ends October 2022) across three of the ten GM Local Authority areas (Bolton, Salford and Manchester), has focused on providing immediate interventions when young people present at A & E departments (or have been admitted), followed by advocacy to ensure appropriate longer term local support is offered and accessed. The three areas selected were based on demand and established partnership support for the pilot. Short term additional Home Office funding has also allowed us to test a model of community-based referrals and interventions which include referrals from North West Ambulance Service and post incident targeted outreach work. Between1 May 2021 and 31 May 2022 there have been 374 referrals into the Hospital service. Between 1Sept 2021 and 31 May 2022 there have been 81 community referrals in addition to a number of outreach deployments and roadshows. The current team, which incorporates the community work, consists of 8 Navigators with admin and management support. The current Service will cease on 31 Oct 2022, with the new Service beginning 1 Nov 2022. It is expected that the appointed provider bidder will be in a position to mobilise alongside the current provision in September / October 2022. A three year Home Office funding settlement to support the GM Violence Reduction Unit has created an exciting opportunity for the expansion and development of the Hospital and Community Navigator Service from November 2022 to March 2025.